Monday, 31 July 2017

Intel's 24-year reign as the world's biggest chipmaker has come to an end, as revealed in Samsung's Q2 earnings report.

The South Korean firm dethroned Intel from the top spot by posting a revenue total of $15 billion, and an operating profit of $7.1 billion for this quarter, a huge change from the $2.4 billion in operating profits in the same quarter last year. Intel, meanwhile, reported a revenue of $14.8 billion and an operating profit of $3.8 billion.

German car manufacturer, Porsche has become the latest team to join electric vehicle racing series, Formula E after confirming that it will quit the LMP1 division of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the end of this season.

The German car manufacturer has opted to terminate its contract with the elite series in long-distance sportscar racing one year before the end of its existing commitment. The team will instead use the time to focus on its inaugural entry to the world’s first electric vehicle racing championship in 2019/20.

Nokia disclosed its financial results for the second quarter of 2017 this week, and within the results the company mentioned that it received an "up-front cash payment" of approximately $2 billion, part of which was said to be recognized during the Q2 2017 results. Nokiamob then reached out to Nokia, and the company confirmed that the cash payment came from Apple.

It would be recalled that in May, Nokia announced it had settled all litigation with Apple. The company also revealed that that they will update their capital structure optimization program, which means Apple agreed to pay a big one-time amount.

Visa, a global payments technology company, Monday announced expanded transaction processing capabilities in two state-of-the-art data centers in Singapore and the United Kingdom. The new global processing hubs will increase the speed, resilience and geo-diversity of Visa’s infrastructure, while strengthening the company’s ability to deliver new and more sophisticated ways to pay in today’s hyper-connected global economy.

“Commerce and payments are in the midst of an historic shift from analog to digital. A growing majority of people around the globe are leaving cash behind and reaching instead for their cards and devices to pay,” said Rajat Taneja, executive vice president of technology at Visa. “With our technology investments in Asia and Europe, we’re scaling up our infrastructure to meet the explosive growth in digital and mobile payments, while maintaining the secure, convenient and always-on service that our clients and partners expect.”

Heritage Bank Plc, has taken aggressive approach to support the Central Bank of Nigeria's initiative to curb the unbanked Nigerians in the rural areas by 20 percent by 2020, thereby offering financial services to the nooks and crannies of Nigerian communities; providing access to underserved markets.

The policy was sequel to a research conducted by an international agency, Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFINA) in 2008 which showed that about 74 percent of Nigeria’s rural community was un-banked. Against this backdrop, the CBN therefore initiated the policy with the aim of reducing the figure by 20 percent by 2020 to ensure greater participation in the nation’s financial sector.

Foreign exchange broker, Exness has announced a breakthrough partnership through which it has become the official trading partner of Real Madrid, the Spanish giants of La Liga.

The length and financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. But with many of their players in the global spotlight, some industry sources are speculating that it’s EUR 3 million per year. This number seems plausible, because Exness won’t have a logo on Real Madrid’s shirt.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, has been elected the Vice-Chairperson representing Africa, for the 11th World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference which will take place on 10-13 December, 2017, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Nigeria’s election was decided at the meeting of the WTO General Council on July 26th. The General Council acts on behalf of the Ministerial Conference on all WTO affairs. It meets as the Dispute Settlement and Trade Policy Review Body to oversee procedures for settling disputes between members and to analyse members’ trade policies.

Cisco on Monday announced the appointment of David Meads as Vice President for its Middle East and Africa operations. In the current era of digital disruption, Meads, in this newly created role, will oversee the execution of Cisco’s strategy in these two regions, ensuring the technology leader maintains its momentum at the forefront of digital transformation efforts.

As digital adoption gathers pace in the Middle East and Africa, the new geographical set up under Meads will allow for greater synergies, relevancy and sharing of best practices across the two regions.

The Nigerian Equities market on Monday fell to pressure from profit taking activities for the second consecutive trading session as the NSE All Share Index (ASI) which serve as the key benchmark indices dropped 2.8 per cent to settle at 35,844 basis points from 36,864.71 on Friday.

The market capitalization dropped by N351.8 billion or 2.8 per cent to N12.354 trillion from N12.705 trillion it closed on Friday

In recognition of its outstanding service delivery, leading telecommunications operator, Airtel Nigeria, on Saturday, July 29, bagged the Service Excellence in Telecommunication Award at the 2017 Commerce & Industry Awards organized by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).

As part of its core mandate of trade promotion and business & policy advocacy, the LCCI recognizes deserving corporate organizations, public institutions and individuals that have contributed meaningfully to the development of commerce and industry in different sectors of the Nigerian economy on an annual basis.

Etihad Airways has announced its 2016 financial results, recording a net loss of US$ 1.87 billion on US$ 8.36 billion in revenues as one-off impairment charges and fuel hedging losses weighed against a solid performance of the core airline.

The core airline business achieved steady passenger revenues of US$ 4.9 billion and 79% load factors while carrying a record 18.5 million passengers. Available seat kilometres (ASKs) increased by 9% to 113.9 billion. Yields fell 8% amid market capacity pressures and the tough global economic climate, but this was partially offset by an 11% reduction in unit costs.

Thursday, 27 July 2017

Just over a year ago, WhatsApp celebrated a record of one billion monthly users. Now the messaging company led by by Jan Koum has just announced that one billion people around the world now use WhatsApp on a daily basis to stay in touch with their family and friends.

Statistics revealed that WhatsApp users now send over 55 billion messages per day, including 4.5 billion photos and 1 billion videos. The new features like video calling and WhatsApp status have probably caused 76% of its monthly users to keep coming back to the app daily. WhatsApp’s growth has seen the company looking for professional to help them monetize the app as it is currently not that monetized.

...Unlimited Package to Enable Customers Share Data with more colleagues, friends and family members

Leading telecommunications services provider, Airtel Nigeria, has unveiled its Home Broadband Service in line with its commitment to deepen Internet connectivity as well as empower telecoms consumers to share data with a number of people without worrying about cost and other limitations.

The new Airtel Home Broadband delivers superfast broadband service via data terminals such as dongle, MiFi and routers as it comes in various packages and affordable price range to suit the lifestyles of different customer segments.

All is now set for the maiden edition of BrandCrunch Sessions, a breakfast learning session organised by BrandCrunch Nigeria, one of the nation’s premier online marketing news portal.

According to the publisher of BrandCrunch, Mr. O’Lekan Babatunde, the maiden edition themed “Marketing in the era of Big Data: The Changing Paradigm”, will kick off by 9:30am on Thursday, August 10, 2017 at the Renaissance Hotel, Isaac John, Ikeja.

The number of internet users in Nigeria’s telecommunications networks has increased to 91.6 million in June, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said.

In the Monthly Internet Subscribers Data published on its official website, for June 2017, the number of active subscribers for data services on each of the licensed service providers utilizing the different technologies increased from 91,595,319 in May to 91,629,066 last month.

Guinness Nigeria Plc yesterday presented a detailed breakdown of its plans to raise N39,700,688,598 by way of rights issue to its existing shareholders. The company shared details of its rights issue programme at a presentation which was held at the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Lagos. The event was attended by a cross section of stakeholders including shareholders, fund/portfolio managers, regulators, auditors, issuing houses and registrars.

A total of 684,494,631 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each will be offered to existing shareholders in the ratio of five new ordinary shares for every eleven ordinary shares held by shareholders whose names appeared on the register of members of the Company at the close of business on Wednesday, 15 March, 2017.The issue price is N58 per share. Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited is the issuing house to the offer which opened on Monday 24 July, 2017 and will close on Wednesday 30 August, 2017.

WWE and SuperSport, Africa’s premier sport channels provider, Wednesday announced a new multi-year agreement to broadcast WWE programming live for the first time in more than 50 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Starting August 28, DStv and GOtv customers will have access to the world’s biggest wrestling entertainment when SuperSport airs WWE’s flagship shows Raw and SmackDown as well as WWE specials, including WrestleMania and SummerSlam.

“WWE is a global phenomenon, so securing the broadcast rights for SuperSport is a terrific coup,” said Gideon Khobane, chief executive of SuperSport. “The athletes involved are larger than life figures who command huge followings. At long last our DStv and GOtv viewers will get to share in this entertainment spectacle in high definition. I look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with WWE.”

The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) humanitarian efforts in the North East recently received a boost when Dufil Prima Foods Plc., makers of Nigeria’s number one instant noodles; Indomie, donated 4,000 cartons of Indomie Noodles worth over 10 million naira for onward transfer to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

The donation was presented by the Managing Director, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Mr Deepak Singhal, while on a courtesy visit to the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar at The NAF Headquarters, Abuja.

SCOA Nigeria Plc on Tuesday said that its Board of Directors has restructured its operations for better efficiency and profitability with the introduction two new entities; Scoa Equipment Limited and Scoa Motors Limited.

In a corporate announcement signed by Olanrewaju Obadina, the company secretary stated that the introduction of two new entities was in line with current business realities.

Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) said African Alliance Stockbrokers Limited has resigned its membership as a dealing member firm

In a notification from the Exchange dated Monday, July 24, 2017, and signed by Council Secretary, Mojisola Adeola, the stockbroking firm disclosed that the resignation took effect from Monday, July 31, 2017.

Easypr.ng, an online marketing and media content distribution platform has launched in Lagos. Through the platform, individual and corporate organisations in need of public relations and other marketing services can customize required service to suit their budget plans.

It provides access to hundreds of newspapers and online news publishing platforms across Africa.

Companies and individuals looking to distribute press materials such as such as Press releases, news features, interviews and photo news, can create the contents and distribute through the platform by paying a fee depending on the number of media platforms required.

Tuesday, 25 July 2017

Four months after 51,018 students sat for the Cowbellpedia Qualifying Examination nationwide, the stage is set for the Cowbellpedia Mathematics TV Quiz Show where 108 students will engage in battle for the ultimate prize.

This second stage, which is in a quiz format, will be further sub-divided into preliminary, semifinals and finals and will be in a series of 13 episodes.

The German trade fair specialists fairtrade announce the 4th edition of agrofood & plastprintpack West Africa to take place on 05-07 December 2017 at the Accra International Conference Centre in Accra, Ghana. Producers of process & packaging technology seeing great chances for business in Ghana and the surrounding West African countries, official national pavilions have been confirmed by Algeria, Belarus, France and the Netherlands, in addition to leading exhibitors from 10 countries.

Organized by the German trade fair specialists fairtrade agrofood & plastprintpack West Africa 2017 will take place from 05 to 07 December at the Accra International Conference Centre.

African Fashion International (AFI), owner and operator of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Joburg 2017 (MBFWJ 2017), is celebrating a decade of African excellence with an exciting line-up of African designers preparing to introduce their Spring/Summer collections, at a new venue.

"We have collaborated with African fashion design royalty to offer a world-class spectacular of refined African apparel and accessories at the newly built Mall of Africa to commemorate 10 years of providing the perfect platform for the continent's best designers to showcase their collections," says Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, AFI Founder and CEO.

Women are no longer trailblazers, the only woman in their field; they are part of an overflowing pipeline of future leaders. Women are no longer competing for just one seat at the table; they are sitting side by side on executive boards at companies large and small. Women are no longer just employees; they are owners and co- owners of thriving businesses, shaping the marketing communications environment in Nigeria, Africa and the world over. Solabomi Okonkwo is one of such women.

The name Solabomi rings a bell in the hearts of many who have been privileged to meet her at both a personal and professional level. With her wealth of experience across multiple industries in complex sales environments, her strengths across the marketing mix provide clients with innovative marketing and communications strategies to fit their business, their budgets and their goals. This comes as no surprise having spent over fifteen (15) years in key business areas including business development, brand building, events management, and experiential marketing. She is also a certified ISO quality auditor.

Etihad Airways today introduced the Boeing 787-9 on its scheduled daily service from Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to Beirut, Lebanon.

The new 787 Dreamliner service replaces the Airbus A321 aircraft previously operating the airline’s EY535/EY538 flights to and from the Lebanese capital. The Boeing 787-9 features Etihad Airways’ next-generation Business and Economy Class cabins and is configured with 299 seats – 28 Business Studios and 271 Economy Smart Seats.

Monday, 24 July 2017

Lenovo, through its Subsidiary, Motorola Mobility, has unveiled a new range of Moto smartphones to core dealers in Nigeria at a groundbreaking event which held in Lagos. The smartphone models which include the Moto E4, Moto E4 plus, Moto C 3G, Moto C 4G and Moto C plus boasts of exciting new features and user friendly applications.

Federal Government has commended Heritage Bank Limited, Nigeria’s Most Innovative Banking Service Provider, for its commitment to the development and growth of the creative industry.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed gave the commendation at a two-day Creative Nigeria Summit held in Lagos recently with the theme: Financing the Film, Television and Music Industries; which was co-sponsored by the Bank.

He remarked that the conference which was jointly organized by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and the Think Tank Media and Advertising was to take the industry into a golden era with smooth access to short and long term financing, world class management and local and international distribution.

Fausiya and Leye Williams have both emerged overall winners of the 2017 edition of Ariya Repete, the Yoruba cultural music talent hunt, at the grand finale event which held at Trans Amusement Park, Ibadan on Friday, July 21, 2017.

Fausiya, a budding female Fuji musician from Ilorin, Kwara State clinched the overall prize of One Million Naira plus a recording deal in the Fuji category, while Leye Williams, a talented Juju artiste from Osun State clinched the same prize of One Million Naira with a recording deal in the Juju category.

Centred on anticipating disruption, connecting the dots between various global events and developing human-centric solutions, Aurecon believes that ADI has the potential to revolutionise the way engineers approach Afrika’s problems.

Nigeria’s leading Pension Fund Administrator (PFA), Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, in furtherance of its commitment to corporate social investment (CSI) and environmental sustainability, has commissioned three blocks of sanitary facilities it renovated at the Nigerian Prisons Training School, Kaduna These facilities are expected to uplift the health and living conditions of personnel of the Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS).

The renovated sanitary facilities, which will enable its beneficiaries maintain better standard of living and sanitary condition and hopefully lead to healthier and more humane lives, was commissioned on Thursday July 13, 2017 by the Controller General of the Nigerian Prisons Service, Ahmed Ja'afaru, who was represented by the Zonal Coordinator Zone B, NPS Kaduna, Assistant Controller General, Musa Mayaki.

Friday, 21 July 2017

His Royal Majesty, Oba Saliu Akanmu Olasupo Adetunji, the Olubadan of Ibadanland has pronounced his Royal blessings on Goldberg, a brand from the stables of Nigerian Breweries Plc for being a preserver of the Yoruba culture and tradition in the Southwest region.

The monarch made this proclamation when the team from Nigerian Breweries Plc paid a courtesy visit to the Oba in his palace on Friday, July 21, 2017 as part of activities for the grand finale of Ariya Repete, Goldberg’s talent hunt competition for indigenous Yoruba music, holding in the city on that day.

Samsung is set to launch the next smartphone in its Galaxy Note series of phablets, the Galaxy Note 8. The company has officially sent out invitations for an Unpacked event on August 23.

The South Korean company doesn't say much on its launch teaser therefore very little is known about the appearance of the new device. The invitation however confirms its between the “Do bigger things” slogan and the image of an S Pen.

With just six slots left to complete a 12-member team for each of the four coaches in the final Blind Audition of Airtel The Voice Nigeria season 2 on Sunday, July 23, 2017, contestants are bracing up to battle one another to make the team.

The last two episodes of the blind audition have seen stiffer competition amongst contestants. And the closing audition promises to be epic.

German sportswear giant, adidas is suing the fast-fashion retailer, Forever 21 for using it's trademarked three-stripe design on its athletic apparel.

Courtesy of Forever 21

According to Women’s Wear Daily, adidas took Forever 21 to federal court for “using a three-stripe design on a range of apparel, athletic wear, and shoes that is ‘confusingly similar’ to (its) well-known and long-trademarked three-stripe design.” The complaint also alleges that Forever 21 is selling counterfeit merchandise on its website.

Infinix is serving up something new to young fans across Nigeria. It has introduced a new series targeted at young consumers especially those in tune with entertainment. Infinix offers smart series and its first model X5010 for smart fans.

The new Infinix smart was designed to ensure young Nigerians have access to remarkable specifications and durable smartphones at an affordable price. Infinix smart is retailing at N29,500 with its amazing entertainment features which include: the front Dual speaker, 3D surround stereo system with dual power amplifier driver, Double volume to give music and videos the most outstanding sound quality with stable bass. The new device also features 1280 x 720 pixels, 16GB ROM, Android 7.0 and more.

Chukwuemeka Chike-Ezekpeazu, elder brother of The Voice Nigeria Season 1 runner-up, Osebuka aka 'Chike' ended the fifth blind auditions of the show with a scintillating performance that got social media buzzing.

Chukwuemeka performed “Sugar” by Maroon 5 which got him two turns and a spot on #TeamPatoranking like his brother, Chike who got all four coaches turn at the maiden edition when he performed ‘Roses’ by James Arthur.

Wednesday, 19 July 2017

Ericsson has been unveiled as the connectivity partner for Stamford Bridge – Chelsea Football Club’s home stadium in Fulham, London. Free Wi-Fi coverage will be provided via the Small Cell as a Service connected venue business model whereby Ericsson designs, builds and operates the network on the customer’s behalf.

As a result, Chelsea FC will be able to provide fans throughout the stadium with a richer experience that enables them to interact digitally with each other, the club, friends and family.